


In So Many Words: Parks and Rec Edition

by satbiym



Series: Tumblr Meta and Ficlets [4]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Meta, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 20:31:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14626500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satbiym/pseuds/satbiym
Summary: My post on Chris Traeger's journey and battle with mental illness.Please note that this work does not adhere to traditional fic format.





	In So Many Words: Parks and Rec Edition

I love Parks and Rec. Love it. It did a lot of good things, but one of my favorite plotlines has been The Evolution Of Chris Traeger. 

When we first meet him, he is this ultra-healthy, superhuman who wants to run to the moon, and is a wonderful, positive human beings who spreads sunshine and joy. It gets to a point where his girlfriend feels weirded out, because he is just so gosh darn perfect.

He breaks up with her so nicely that she doesn’t even notice, and continues to think they’re dating (it’s very embarrassing and hilarious).

But we see hints of anxiety whenever he encounters illness or anything less than perfection. Apparently his lack of body fat makes him more susceptible to infection.

Fast forward a couple of years, and he starts fraying.

His girlfriend breaks up with him, he gets older, and life happens.

He starts crying and having breakdowns over everything, and isn’t happy even though nothing is terribly wrong. Despite him being a wonderful, positive upbeat person who has close friends, he starts…..well, see the above gifs (which aren’t mine btw)

AND IT’S SO WONDERFUL.

Because you would never think someone like Chris Traeger, a man with a high powered job and wonderful life, would have anxiety attacks and be depressed!

BUT HE DOES. AND YOU KNOW WHAT?!

HE GOES TO THERAPY. EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK.

AND HE GETS BETTER!

And the show shows that! At one point he has to die in a simulation, from bird flu, and he is okay with that. Old Chris would’ve freaked out over it.

The thumbs up gif with “Therapy” is about this.

He is such a wonderful character. I just love him so. AND HE GROWS STRONGER, AND HIS LIFE IMPROVES. HE REALIZES THAT HE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT FOR HIS LIFE TO BE BRILLIANT.

I wish we would stop treating his journey as a joke, and appreciate what Parks and Rec did with him.


End file.
